---

“Today, the woman who called was a civil servant from the Secretariat working in the delegation.”

Gabi Schneider.

“She is a staff member of the International Department under the Secretariat, responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Francesca recited the information about this woman.

“Gabi Schneider. A magician from Hamelin. She worked as a diplomat on the Mauritania Continent for five years before moving to the Secretariat. Her major is Necromancy.”

“Nebulous field, isn’t it?”

“Right.”

“And what’s her connection with the missing Jean Marbo?”

“I believe they were in a romantic relationship.”

Jean Marbo, like Gabi Schneider, is a civil servant in the Secretariat. They were in a couple’s relationship.

“I don’t know them personally, but supposedly they’ve been together for quite a while. They began dating when they worked together on the Mauritania Continent, and then they both applied for the northern dispatch.”

And then Jean Marbo went missing.

“Efforts to find the missing lover.”

It’s a rather touching story, but that’s all it is. There are simply too many pressing issues to worry about one Jean Marbo.

As it stands, there are over five cities being attacked in the north. Casualties haven’t even been properly counted, and even if they could be, who knows if it would even be announced? And missing persons are the least of our worries.

The death of one great person may cause millions to grieve, but the deaths of a million ordinary people struggle to touch even a single heart. From that perspective, Jean Marbo’s disappearance is just one of many sorrows.

So many lives have been lost.

With so much at stake right now, does the disappearance of someone we were told to investigate even hold any worth?

Surely it does.

It’s simply a matter of where it falls on the priority list.

“Ugh… But I still need to report it…”

Given that I couldn’t avoid it, I followed Francesca’s lead. Well, that was the plan, anyway.

But then, as I trudged through the lobby, a voice from behind stopped me.

“Jean Marbo went missing that day—the day Colonel Nostrim fought against a demon and a necromancer alongside Saint Lucia.”

And just like that, priorities shifted.

—

Episode 13 – A Land Without Wizards

The address captured on my mobile phone was for a city near the capital of Patalia. It took exactly 32 minutes to pass through the Warp Gate and reach it.

As soon as we arrived at the address, a beautiful alley welcomed us. Quaint low buildings huddled together, and cobblestone paths reminiscent of an old European town could be sighted all around.

Following the little traveled alley for some time, a humble café tucked away in a corner emerged. It was a typical café where one could sit on an outdoor terrace, losing oneself in the scenery over a cup of coffee.

There, we encountered a tearful magician on the terrace.

“Miss Schneider?”

As soon as the magician recognized Francesca, tears began to swell in her eyes.

“…Lady Ranieri.”

“Oh dear, what on earth happened?”

With an atmosphere that seemed ready to unleash tears at any moment, Francesca appeared quite flustered.

While watching the weeping Gabi Schneider call her name, she approached and pulled something out from her pocket.

A handkerchief.

“Don’t cry.”

“Sniff… ; Sob….”

“Calm down, Miss Schneider. Would you sit here, please?”

The Secretariat employee, clutching the handkerchief tightly with both hands, nodded repeatedly. As Francesca cautiously helped her into a chair, tears glistening from her eyes dripped down her cheeks with every nod.

I quietly observed the sobbing Gabi Schneider, then turned to Francesca.

“I’ll get some drinks.”

“Thank you, Colonel.”

It seemed this conversation would drag on for quite a while. At that state, I couldn’t even probe her with questions, much less engage in dialogue.

I went inside the café and ordered three drinks. While the owner jotted down the menu on a piece of paper and went to prepare the drinks, I turned my head to slowly survey both the interior and exterior of the café.

First, the exterior.

The café was located in a little-traveled alley.

Despite it being broad daylight, aside from a few elderly residents passing by, it seemed to lack any other pedestrians. This place didn’t seem like a tourist hotspot, such as Galbria.

The alley was so narrow that only two vehicles could barely fit side by side. The road was wide, but the sheer volume of illegally parked cars crowded the passage.

Cars were lined up on either side of the café entrance, and across the street, a few cars and one van were parked.

Though the distance was significant, a man could be seen in the passenger seat of the van, his face obscured by a hat as he was peacefully asleep, while a passenger in the back appeared to be smoking, as wisps of smoke were wafting out.

“…….”

Next, the interior had little to scrutinize.

With the café being quaint, there were few customers inside.

In one corner of the terrace sat a man sending messages on his mobile phone, while three gossiping ladies occupied an inner table, and two academy students were engrossed in their books, fervently jotting down notes. Including the café owner, there were a total of six people present.

Just as I was about to look for a door leading to a back alley, the busy owner chirped with a bright smile.

“Your coffee is here.”

“Oh, thank you!”

I naturally placed three cups on a tray and made my way to the terrace. Gabi Schneider was still wiping her tears with the handkerchief, while Francesca sat beside her, patting her back.

I set the cups down in front of each of them and took a seat next to Francesca, directly across from Gabi Schneider.

“Nice to meet you, Gabi Schneider. I’m Colonel Frederick Nostrim from Abas.”

“…Uh.”

“I heard about your situation from Miss Francesca. I thought I might come by to see if I could help.”

Gabi Schneider, with tears flowing like a broken faucet, finally looked up at me. Her rabbit-like, red-rimmed eyes widened slightly.

Thunk! The table shook with a noisy clatter.

Gabi Schneider, startled to recognize me, quickly shot up from her seat, colliding with the table and causing the noise.

Suddenly drawing everyone’s attention in the café.

The chatting ladies exchanged glances, wondering if a fight had broken out, while the academy students jumped slightly in surprise, then went back to their books. The café owner popped her head out and cast a curious look our way, while the man on the terrace engrossed in messaging merely shot a bland glance before returning his focus to his phone.

I calmed the startled Gabi Schneider down.

“Did I surprise you? It’s alright. I’m here to help.”

“H-how did you know…?”

I explained the events of the last couple of days to her.

How I came to Patalia for a vacation, met Francesca, was invited to a special lecture by a professor from the Ivory Tower during a meal, and how I rushed here upon receiving Gabi Schneider’s call.

Hearing that, Gabi Schneider seemed at a loss for words, looking down as if to apologize.

“I’m so sorry… I made you rush here during your vacation…”

“You don’t need to apologize. I heard you were in the north too. By coincidence, I was in the north as well; we would have at least crossed paths, right? So it’s only right I help you.”

I lightheartedly offered.

And to peck my way into a smooth conversation, I gazed at Francesca who sat beside me.

“Most importantly, you’re Miss Francesca’s coworker; it surely makes sense for me to lend a hand.”

If a complete stranger suddenly came to offer help to someone in a sticky situation, hardly anyone would not feel awkward about accepting it. But if you pose it as, “I heard from a mutual acquaintance,” people tend to accept help more easily than anticipated.

A guarantee is only needed when taking out loans.

I boldly used Francesca’s name to my advantage. And it paid off.

Gabi Schneider, who looked like she was on the verge of tears, nodded earnestly, thanking me with a stutter in her voice.

Before diving deep into the conversation, I nudged her with a warm cup of coffee.

“I’ve heard the general situation. There’s a person named Jean Marbo who went missing, correct?”

“Y-yes…”

“I understand from Miss Francesca that he too was affiliated with the Secretariat and had been dispatched to the north.”

“M-Mhm…”

“Very well.”

I retrieved my notebook and pen from my pocket and placed it on the table. Simultaneously, I feigned the act of looking for something lost and pressed the recorder’s button.

-Click.

The soft sound of the recorder whirring to life echoed.

Once prepared, I rested my clasped hands and opened my mouth.

“Now, could you please describe in detail what happened?”

—

The questioning masqueraded as a conversation commenced. With the recorder quietly spinning in my pocket, I directed queries at Gabi Schneider.

“You mentioned Jean Marbo is missing.”

“Yes…”

“Mhm… Where did you last see him before he went missing?”

In a quivering voice, she responded.

“In the hotel… In the bar of the accommodation provided by the Empire…”

“A hotel room, huh.”

Just before Jean Marbo disappeared, he was last at a hotel. It was the lodging assigned by the Military Government Headquarters for our group along with people from the Magic Tower and Cult.

“You saw Mr. Marbo just before he went missing, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I saw him in person. We even had a conversation.”

“Could you describe that scenario in detail? The atmosphere, what you talked about, and how Mr. Marbo reacted?”

Gabi Schneider’s mouth fell closed. She began to dart her eyes around as if deep in thought.

It seemed like she wasn’t keen on speaking.

That was a sort of defensive mechanism. She surely had something to hide. After all, Gabi Schneider and Jean Marbo were individuals who were actually subjects of an investigation ordered by the company.

Moreover, Jean Marbo went missing on the same day they clashed with a necromancer.

“Gabi?”

Francesca, seated to the right of the Secretariat employee, tentatively called her name.

Throughout the duration of this, Gabi Schneider had averted her gaze but finally turned to Francesca.

“Are you alright?”

“L-Lady Ranieri…”

“There’s no need to be scared. We’re trying to help. Can you tell us what happened then?”

“……”

Gabi Schneider’s eyes began to quake as if an earthquake had struck. Unable to conceal her anxiety, she fidgeted before sipping her coffee to steady her nerves.

It seemed like the warm drink helped ease her tension.

Wrestling with whether or not to share, she seemed to make a resolution, swallowing her sobs before she spoke.

“That day, I fought with Marbo…”

The magician from the Secretariat tightly shut her eyes and began her testimony.

“You fought? Was there conflict within the team?”

“N-no! Nothing like that… It was just that we disagreed…”

“What opinions are you referring to?”

“Well, that is…”

She hesitated, shifting her body and wiping her face.

“It was a problem between Marbo and me… We were dating, you see.”

Gabi Schneider described what occurred that day as a romantic dispute. I hastily transcribed her statement, jotting down her gestures and actions in my notebook.

“Was it a lovers’ quarrel then?”

“Yeah…”

Her account was thus.

Amid the pressure of coming to the conflict area, the excessive workload at the Secretariat, and the series of instabilities shaking the north, Gabi Schneider was said to be experiencing significant stress for personal reasons.

She mentioned suffering from insomnia and other stress-related issues, ultimately seeking out her partner, Jean Marbo, where she explained her condition and made a request.

“I suggested we should take a brief trip back to the Magic Tower.”

“The Magic Tower?”

“Yeah. It was just… too hard to work… This was my first war, and it was frightening… I could handle everything else, but seeing people die around me was terrifying… So I suggested to Jean that we take a vacation and briefly return to the tower.”

“And what did Marbo say?”

Gabi Schneider replied.

“He got angry.”

Upon receiving her lover’s request, Jean Marbo was furious. Initially, he told her not to say such things and that he’d be there for her, encouraging her to rest, but as Gabi Schneider kept bringing up the idea of the Magic Tower, he began to fume.

While I was scribing her testimony, a question popped into my mind.

“Could you elaborate on the circumstances that made Marbo lose his temper? Knowing why he got upset would help us assist you.”

“Uh, the reason he was angry…”

Just as Gabi Schneider began to continue her statement, she suddenly stopped talking.

Overcome with emotion, she hung her head and struggled to continue.

“I honestly don’t know… Was it a sense of responsibility, or was it the pressure…?”

“What do you mean by that, Schneider?”

“That even if everyone else is suffering, he can’t just make himself comfortable. If someone must do something, they have to be the one to do it…”

Hmm.

Listening to the story, Jean Marbo appeared to be a person with a tremendous sense of responsibility. It could very well be a matter of obligation.

However, the point where my skepticism kicked in is that he went missing on the very day he encountered the necromancer.

Responsibility. Obligation. Pressure.

Jotting down keywords next to my notes, I turned to Gabi Schneider again.

“What happened after that?”

“Well, Jean got angry at me, and I yelled back at him.”

At that moment, just after Jean Marbo raised his voice, they began shouting at each other. In the heat of the moment, they started dredging up every perceived slight and grievance both had kept bottled up.

As is often the case with emotional fights, the things they shouldn’t have said came tumbling out.

Jean Marbo shouted at Gabi Schneider, “Stop thinking only of yourself!” and “Quit talking like a coward!”

And Gabi Schneider?

“He told me to go die…”

“…….”

“I didn’t mean it for real! I just… I just wanted him to disappear from my sight, so I said something I didn’t mean…!”

She burst into tears once more.

She leaned over the table, shaking her shoulders as she silently wept. With the sound of her sobs resonating through the quiet café, all eyes turned our way.

The café owner looked over with a somewhat anxious expression, while the ladies and students murmured amongst themselves, thinking there was a love triangle at play.

Meanwhile, the man at the far end of the terrace, who had been absentmindedly tapping at his phone, didn’t seem to care at all, casually sending texts and drinking coffee.

Gabi Schneider’s hands gripped the handkerchief so tightly that they turned pale. Her handkerchief was long since soaked and had morphed into a rag.

With no sign of her calming down, I quietly closed my notebook and stood.

“It seems we should take a short break.”

“Yes, we should.”

I walked in the direction of the restroom. Francesca remained behind, soothing Gabi Schneider, saying she’d fetch some tissues.

She made her way across the café toward the restroom. She appeared in front of me, leaning against the wall that blocked her from sight on the terrace.

Once we made sure there was no one around, we cast a brief glance over the wall toward Gabi Schneider seated on the terrace and began talking.

“What do you think?”

“It’s a sad story,” Francesca added, “if it’s all genuinely true.”

With a worried expression as she comforted the sobbing employee, Francesca’s face had grown notably colder.

Her expression, featureless as it usually was, felt even more frigid than before.

“Do you think that woman is lying?”

“At least she doesn’t seem to be telling the whole truth. There seems to be a mix of exaggeration or outright lies.”

Francesca carefully folded her arms, leaning against the wall.

“What about your thoughts, Colonel?”

To be honest, my thinking aligned with hers. Gabi Schneider wasn’t being entirely truthful.

“She’s lying. There have been moments when she hesitated while recounting, and no matter how I observe, it seemed she was simply digging through memories. I haven’t formed a definitive conclusion yet, but at least it doesn’t appear she’s sharing just the truth.”

I shrugged, adding, “Still, I believe her final words about what she told Jean Marbo before fighting seem genuine. She managed to articulate her vehemence during that section.”

“And isn’t there a possibility even that could be a lie?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Even that remained unclear. I wasn’t a sage.

But in my judgment, it was apparent Gabi Schneider was trying to conceal the explicit details or deceive us within her statements, yet she vividly described the argument with Jean Marbo. At the very least, the fact that they had a fight was true.

I checked the time and looked at Francesca.

“I’ll go ahead and see what’s happening. It might take a while for her to calm down.”

I’m going to need that. Once things have calmed down a bit, we’ll give them some warm drinks. Cold ones are absolutely out of the question.”

“Why warm drinks, of all things?”

“When a person is in extreme tension or emotional distress, they respond strongly to external stimuli. That’s why investigators deliberately offer something warm when first meeting a suspect in an interrogation room. The temperature of the drink subconsciously reassures them that the person isn’t there to harm them.”

“Won’t they ever serve cold water?”

“Sometimes they do. But that’s not left out for drinking. It’s there for them to use if things go awry.”

That was just a joke I made, but it seemed Francesca didn’t quite get it.

After sending her a look that hinted she didn’t understand, I headed to the restroom to check on the recorder. It was a small device, only allowing for about 20 minutes of recording, so I would have to replace it periodically if the interrogation dragged on.

Or should I move this to a hotel or something?

I paused my work to think it over.

“…Hmm.”

If I ask the Information Officers at the Patalian Embassy, they might just transform a hotel room into an interrogation space.

No need to set things up too elaborately; just a few listening devices and a couple of cameras would do the trick.

I could take notes from the recordings happening in the next room, and once the interrogation was over, I could send Gabi Schneider out, retrieve the equipment, and slip away. I just need to send the data back to the company for separate analysis.

Not a bad idea. I began putting the plan into motion.

I took out the mobile phone provided by the embassy and started looking for the emergency contacts to send a text. If I asked them to call, they would likely open a secure line for a safe conversation.

I pressed the phone’s buttons, typing out a message.

But then, I got a call.

“What the…?”

The text screen disappeared, and a number popped up on the display. It wasn’t a saved number, so no name appeared.

As I pondered whether to answer, I noticed the number closely and realized it belonged to Clevenz.

It was the personal mobile number I had seen on Clevenz’s business card for three years.

I quickly glanced around the room and confirmed that no one was in the hallway before hastily locking the door.

“…Yes, hello?”

-‘Is that you?’

“Ah, yes. It’s me, sir.”

-‘Just thought of you and decided to call. Is it okay to chat for a moment?’

*

“What’s the occasion? You’re suddenly calling me.”

-‘Oh, did I need a reason to talk to you?’

“That’s not necessarily the case.”

-‘Just wanted to know if you’re enjoying your vacation.’

Clevenz’s voice came through the phone, sounding a bit weary.

-‘Was the lecture interesting?’

It seemed my report had already reached him without me realizing. He casually asked how I felt about the special lecture.

“It was a decent experience, though it was hard to grasp some of the topics.”

-‘That’s all part of the experience. I’m glad to hear you’re resting well. So, where are you right now?’

I answered honestly.

“I’m at a cafe near the capital of Patalia.”

-‘A cafe?’

“Yes. Just passing through with an acquaintance. But why do you suddenly want to know?”

-‘…Hmm.’

“Sir?”

-‘Oh, it’s nothing. By the way, can you drop by the embassy to pick up something? It’d be best if you could bring that acquaintance along with you.’

“……”

I was momentarily dumbfounded by the abrupt request.

He wanted me to go to the embassy with Francesca? Just like that?

“Uh, sir, is there something going on that I should know about?”

-‘Why are you so curious? You’ll figure it out when you get there.’

“What does that even mean…?”

Just then, the call suddenly dropped.

At first, I thought Clevenz had hung up, but I soon wondered if I accidentally pressed the wrong button.

When I tried to call back, however.

“Huh?”

The phone wouldn’t go through.

Looking now, the signal had vanished.

“What’s going on? Why is this happening all of a sudden?”

I mumbled while staring at the dead phone. I pressed buttons repeatedly trying to call again and even turned the power off and on. Despite all that, the phone remained useless.

Suddenly, I realized something was off. I tried calling the fire department and police. If there was an issue with the SIM card, emergency calls should still go through.

But neither the police nor the fire department answered.

“……”

In that moment, I sensed that something was seriously amiss. I rushed out of the restroom and scanned the cafe.

“What on earth is happening?”

“I’m sorry, sir! We can’t continue serving today.”

“What do you mean I have to leave? I haven’t even finished my coffee yet…”

Stepping outside, I saw a strange scene unfolding.

The owner, who had been running the cafe just moments ago, was now hurriedly ushering customers out.

Patrons were bewildered by the sudden closing announcement. Still, the owner’s insistence led them to gather their things and leave.

As I watched the dwindling crowd exit the cafe, I stepped out onto the terrace to check on Francesca. She was comforting a tearful Gabi Schneider.

“Ah, Colonel, do you have any tissues?”

“No, I don’t.”

Gabi Schneider was still shedding tears. Francesca, realizing that her handkerchief was past its usefulness, suggested they at least find tissues.

“It seems they’ve run out of tissues inside the shop. I can’t find any no matter how hard I look.”

“Just grab some toilet paper from the restroom. We need to gather something and get out quickly.”

Noticing my urgency to leave the cafe, Francesca seemed to sense something was off. She said she would head to the restroom, and I should take Gabi with me and go first.

That was already what I intended to do.

“Come on, Schneider.”

“Sniff….”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Just as I was guiding her toward the exit of the terrace—

-Broom!

A van parked in the alley suddenly roared to life.

The booming engine sound filled the alley, and as it sped out onto the road, it quickly blocked the exit of the outdoor terrace. The side door of the van swung wide open.

And then—

-Bam!

Someone shoved me hard from behind.

As I was helping Gabi Schneider down the narrow stairs, I stumbled forward. Gabi, who was supposed to be leaning on me, started to tip over as well.

Thud! A dull thud echoed in my ears.

“Guh….”

Just as I tried to push myself up, I felt a sensation strangely unlike the cold gravel beneath me.

The ground I was trying to brace myself against was the bottom of a vehicle. I lay half-draped at the entrance of the van.

Quickly lifting my head, I saw the inside of the van. It was an empty shell that could fit at least nine people. Nothing remained where the back seat should have been.

And crouched inside the van were two men.

The moment I confirmed the empty space and the two crouched occupants, a string of curses slipped from my lips.

This was a textbook case of a vehicle abduction.

In my experience, there was only one kind of scum who would abduct someone in this manner.

Information Agency operatives.

“Damn…!”

As the two thugs lunged at me, I swiftly tried to rise and escape the vehicle.

Twisting my body to break free, someone gripped my thigh from behind. It was the same guy from the cafe terrace who had been texting.

He clutched tight and tried to drag me inside the van. Struggling, I managed to free one leg and slammed my shoe into his face.

-Crack!

“Argh…!”

The guy whose face I kicked clutched his nose, screaming. I could hear a crunching sound, indicating he likely broke his nose.

Blood streaming through his fingers soaked my pants as I managed to push myself further out of the van.

But they were quicker.

“Grab him!”

One of the two thugs crouching inside grabbed my shoulder, yanking me back. The strength was incredible.

Tossed to the ground like a flopping fish, I struggled desperately to escape the van. However, the guy I just kicked joined in, and I was helplessly pulled back inside.

They dragged me into the completely empty back of the van, pressing me down with their weight.

“You fuckers…!”

Face pressed against the floor, I surveyed the interior of the van. The two of them had long since subdued both Gabi Schneider and me.

The one I kicked climbed aboard the van, joining the abduction crew and slammed the door shut, tapping the driver on the shoulder.

What would happen next was painfully obvious.

The closed van sped onto the road. I lay stuck on the ground, unable to move, merely observing the situation. The guy on my back quickly bound my hands together.

Then, the one who shut the door handed a damp towel.

The man holding Gabi Schneider pressed that towel over her face. The magician struggled, but within three seconds, her eyes rolled back, and she slumped lifelessly.

And I was no different.

As I saw the towel covering my nose and mouth, I resisted, but it was futile.

The moment I inhaled the vile odor from the towel, the world around me vanished into darkness.

“……”

As I tried to lift my eyelids, I found nothing but darkness all around.

I couldn’t see even a sliver of light.

My head throbbed as though I had bludgeoned it upon falling.

Wondering how I ended up here, I tried to think, but nothing came to mind, as if my memories had been cleanly severed.

In my painfully throbbing head, I was unable to assess the situation, but I slowly steadied my breath and tried to figure out where I had been stashed.

The first piece of information that registered in my mind was sound.

-Swish. Swish.

It sounded like nails scraping metal. It might have been thin slate. I moved my bound hands to feel the objects behind me.

Even amid the confusion, I managed to discover a few things through my senses.

First, I was trapped in a cramped space.

I knew it was cramped because I felt my body awkwardly curled up against something, and I could feel the cold touch of metal as I lightly brushed the object behind me with my fingernails.

Thus, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that I was indeed trapped inside a drum. This oddly familiar position brought back memories of a time I had once been stuck in a drum.

“……”

With my sight obstructed, I focused all my mental faculties on the task at hand.

If they intended to kill me, there would be no need to confine me in a drum. If they were going to kill me, they would drag me far away and do it there. So they had to have some way of transporting me.

Concluding this, I closed my eyes and focused on my senses, discerning that my body was swaying side to side.

This didn’t feel like being transported in a vehicle. There was no reason I should be swaying like this on the road.

Instead, I had a strong intuition that I was being moved on a ship. The reasoning was simple. It was just a gut feeling.

A ship with a drum, huh.

The memory of when Raul was dunked into the drum flashed back to me. I remembered teasing Jake, calling him a land dog back then.

“……”

As I continued to search for a means of escape, I found it futile. The bindings were too tight, and no matter how thoroughly I searched around me, I found no tool to cut the ropes.

Having knocked around for a bit, I finally gave up the notion of escape. I needed to conserve my strength for whatever might happen next.

Meanwhile, the vessel carrying me continued onward.

I tried to count to keep track of time, but even that proved useless. I found myself trapped in the drum the moment I opened my eyes. I had no idea how long I had been here.

“…….”

As the surroundings fell quiet, sounds suddenly surged back in.

The sound of crashing waves. People moving about on the deck. And so on.

Now my holiday had turned into a mysterious ordeal lasting who knows how many days.

Trapped inside a drum, I was being taken somewhere.

With my sight blocked, I lay still, only breathing in silence. It felt like a lot of time had passed, yet my head still throbbed painfully.

I rested my head against the wall — or rather, the inside of the drum — and slowly focused on my breath. I continued to breathe, as that monotonous and unending act came to an eventual stop when I felt my feet touch solid ground.

The unknown thugs pulled me out of the drum and started dragging me away. They propped my arms under their armpits and bound my legs tightly to prevent any chance of escape. They stood me up.

I had no clue where I had disembarked. I only clearly recognized that they had begun dragging me underground at some point.

I was led down a staircase, and then from left to right, right to left down a maze-like structure.

After wandering through what felt like an endless series of hallways, I was finally led into a room whose location remained a mystery.

The thugs sat me down in a chair. Aside from the occasional shout and “Grab him!” they didn’t say another word. They were thorough, those bastards.

“…….”

As I sat in the chair, I took a deep breath and focused on the sounds around me, hoping to catch snippets of any conversation they might have.

But what reached my ears wasn’t chatter or screams.

It was footsteps.

-Thud.

The sound of boots walking on concrete — a sound that could be heard anywhere, anytime.

Whether the door was left open, I could hear the sound drawing closer as it echoed from afar. After a while, this sound grew closer and eventually entered the room where I sat bound. Though I couldn’t see, I could feel someone had stepped inside.

After that, I heard the sound of a chair being dragged. The chair skidded across the tiles and came to an abrupt stop right in front of me.

As the chair was set down, the object that had been obstructing my sight was also lifted. What had been pulled away initially felt like a hood of some sort.

And then, the flood of light.

As the blinding illumination hit me, I instinctively squinted and looked ahead. My vision, having adjusted to the darkness, struggled to adapt to the suddenly bright environment.

The hazy image filled my view but gradually became clearer as my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Only then was I finally able to observe the situation I was in.

The walls were stained with an unidentified liquid. A light fixture hung from the ceiling, adorned with a shade, with an old bulb glowing brightly, pushing back the darkness.

Since there was only one light, I couldn’t see what lay in the shadowy corners. But the chair directly in front of me was the clearest object among everything else.

Someone, who had been resting their hands on the back of that chair, gently pulled it and sat down. The individual wasn’t a giant, but they weren’t exactly ordinary either; they had a somewhat fragile-looking frame. I lifted my head straight to face the person sitting before me.

They had thick eyebrows and slightly wavy hair. Their face bore deep-set wrinkles. The shadows cast by the glaring light accentuated those lines even more.

Yet, beneath those age lines, there was an unmistakable attribute.

They had a piercing gaze, with eyes gleaming like a hawk.

I recognized the person sitting before me. It was inevitable.

“…….”

As she perched upon the chair, she leaned back, letting out a sigh as if expressing weariness from her burdens, scrunching her face in annoyance.

She stared at me without saying a word. I gazed back, perplexed, and after some time, she broke the silence with a slanted tone.

“…It’s surprising that I put you on leave, and now you’ve gone and caused a mess.”

I called her name.

“Director Leoni.”

Former Deputy Director of the Royal Intelligence Department, Division 2.

Now the head of the Military Intelligence Agency’s Overseas Intelligence Operations Division.

And also, my superior.

“What are you doing here?”

She frowned, as if it were a troublesome matter.

“That’s a question I wanted to ask.”

 

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